Cable Curl vs. Barbell Curl

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The main difference between the cable curl and the barbell curl is one of gravity. Learn about the differences between the cable curl and the barbell curl with help from the owner and operator of a fitness studio in this free video clip.

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Transcript

Hello, my name is Michael DeGood, and today I'm going to discuss with you barbell curls versus cable curls. And the main difference between barbell curls versus cable curls, is gravity. And what I mean is, is that, what makes a barbell curl effective, is the force of gravity pulling the barbell down toward the ground. So, as you're doing the curl, if you're starting down here. Once you start to lift the bar, it gets slightly heavier, as the bar goes further out form your body. And once you get to this full-on 90 degrees, that's when gravity is most prevalent. And that's when you get the most resistance in the barbell and in the curl. And once you get past this 90 degree angle, it starts to get slowly easier, and easier and easier. Until you get to the finish, to the top of the curl. And again, in the negative, once you start down, it's going to get progressively harder, progressively harder. Until you reach that 90 degree angle, when it's at it's peak. And of course, after that 90 degree angle, it's going to get slightly easier and all the way down, it'll get easier and easier as you go. So, that's the main difference between a barbell curl versus a cable curl. Reason being, is that when you're executing a cable curl, since the angle of the weight is going straight up and straight down. It' being affected by gravity the entire time. So, while you're doing your range of motion, you're going to have the same amount of resistance from the beginning, all the way through, to the end, and all the way back, down. So, the resistance will never change using a cable curl, as opposed to using a barbell curl. But the resistance will change, depending on the gravitational pull of the curl. So, in effect, what is best to use when it comes to cable curls versus barbell curls. Well, a lot of body builders will tell you that they prefer a barbell curl, only because it's a free weight. And of course, when you're using free weights, it's also going to hit the stabilizer muscles and the core. And plus, you can stack loads of weight onto a barbell. Not to mention that a barbell or an Olympic barbell, will weigh 45 pounds at the start. So, it can go very, very heavy. So, if you want to lift heavy, you want get bigger arms, quicker. You want to stimulate more muscle fiber, activate the motor units, use the barbells. But if you want to change your grip, change some attachments, and get that constant resistance the whole time, use the cables. For me, I like to change it up and all good workouts have a lot of variety of movements. So, I would start with the barbells and then, go to the cables, or vice versa, to change it up. Once again, my name is Michael DeGood and that was barbell curls versus cable curls.